The Patron Saint of Hunters
by fangirlandwriter
Summary: Castiel makes a name for himself within the hunter community.
1. Chapter 1

Castiel stood in front of the pyre and bowed his head. The two bodies, wrapped in white sheets, burned slowly, one last effort of the brothers who had saved the world over and over again to beat the death that had come for them eventually, inevitably.

"Goodbye, Dean. Goodbye, Sam," Castiel said.

A tear, then another, slid down his cheek. Angels didn't cry, though it was fitting for Castiel, the angel of solitude and tears. And it was so profoundly human.

He was alone, for now. Not that that was a bad thing; it had given him time to mourn privately as the word had gone out amongst the hunter community about Sam and Dean's deaths.

And then, one by one, they came. First there were the hunters they had rescued from the alternate universe, interchangeable though most of them seemed to be. Then many other hunters from the normal universe. And at last, Jody, Donna, Alex, Patience, Claire, and Kaia, the group now collectively known as the Wayward Sisters. At that point Cas was so preoccupied by staring into the fire that he didn't notice Claire sidle up next to him.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he lied. It was what Dean had taught him to do, after all.

Claire followed his gaze, mournfully. "We're giving them a hunter's funeral, huh?" She went on, letting his lie slip past. "It's what they would've wanted." "Yes it is," Castiel agreed solemnly.

Sensing that he needed comfort, Claire leaned into him and put her arm around his side. He leaned into the contact, slowly reciprocating it. He found that it lifted up his spirits, if only the slightest amount.

Stepping out from the crowd, Jack appeared beside them just as they broke apart.

"I'm gonna miss them," he observed. "I'm sorry that they're gone."

"Me too," admitted Claire.

Jack looked as if he had been grieving as much as Castiel had been. But when he saw Claire, and heard her voice, a shadow of his bright smile returned.

"Hi! I'm Jack," he said as cheerily as he could muster. "What's your name?"

"Claire," she responded as they shook hands. "I've heard so much about you."

Jack glanced briefly at Cas, eyebrows raised, then back to Claire. "You have?" "Yeah. Castiel here tells me a lot. He was one of the people who helped get me where I needed to be after my parents died."

"We have something in common, then," Jack said eagerly.

With that, they strolled off through the crowd of hunters, their heads, so similar in hair color, bent close together. "...I'm surprised we've never met before," Jack said, his voice growing fainter the further away they moved. Castiel barely noticed that they were gone, turning his gaze back to the still-burning pyre and looking into the flames.

Several long-winded speeches were made, testaments to the heroics of Sam and Dean akin to legends of old. But Castiel opted not to give a speech. No words could convey the depths of the loss he felt. He had said his goodbyes, privately, and that was enough.

Eventually, the hunters left in groups, much the same way as they'd come. And soon enough, Castiel was the last one to leave the now empty pyre.

The grave was placed outside the bunker. Carved into the headstone was the chorus of "Carry On My Wayward Son" by Kansas, done by the fine work of an angel blade. Castiel knew that there were no bodies buried there, only the ashes of what once had been, ensuring that the Winchesters could never come back.

At the thought, an anguished sob escaped his throat. If he could take it all back, have one last moment with the Winchesters, together as a family, he would. But he couldn't; not this time. So the angel who had learned to love humanity with all of his heart knelt down in front of the Winchesters' grave and began to pray.

Cas entered the bunker at last, wearily, drained of the ever increasing amounts of human emotion he experienced, even now as an angel. He found Jack sitting at the table in the war room, drinking Dean's favorite brand of beer. He had slipped out of the funeral early, exhausted from his efforts in spreading the word across the hunter community.

"I suppose this is our home now," Cas observed.

Jack looked up at the angel he had chosen to be his father. "Why now?" He asked. "It was our home before."

"To honor those we have lost," Cas explained, short and to the point. He couldn't bring himself to say their names.

He walked over to the table and sat down in the chair across from Jack. "I know another way to do that," Jack said. Then he raised his bottle of beer, the way he had seen and even imitated Dean doing before. "For Sam and Dean," he said.

Cas nodded. "For Sam and Dean," he echoed. He took an unopened bottle of beer from the pack on the table and clinked it against the half empty bottle Jack held before opening it.

As Castiel took a sip of his beer, he realized that he was proud of Jack and how far he had come. But he also hoped to be strong enough to continue parenting Jack alone, going forward.

Later that night, alone in his room, Castiel surveyed his appearance. No, the outfit he wore wouldn't do. Not anymore. It was a symbol of the angel he used to be, before Sam and Dean had come along and changed his life completely.

The decision was made quickly. He shrugged out of the iconic trench coat first, then stripped down out of his suit, both of which had technically always belonged to Jimmy Novak. And then the outfit Castiel had worn as consistently as he was able for more than ten years was put away in the back of his closet for good.


	2. Chapter 2

To substitute the discarding of his trench coat and suit, as he had during his brief time as a human, Castiel rummaged through Sam and Dean's closets. He had no qualms about wearing the clothes of now-dead men. In fact, he felt that he was honoring them in a way, carrying on their legacy.

For the final layers of his outfit, underneath the tight-fitting leather jacket he found, he picked a blue and white patterned plaid shirt and denim jeans that were an inch or so too big on him. It would have to suffice. He was still an angel, after all; any damage the clothes incurred, and they most definitely would, could be mended by his grace.

The phone Castiel had placed on his nightstand rang insistently, a ringtone that grated in his ears. It annoyed him slightly, until he saw who was calling. Springing into action, he reached over and picked up the phone, knowing that this call could be important. And it was.

"Hello?" He asked cautiously.

"Castiel? I need your help." The voice on the other end said bluntly. It was a familiar voice, one he heard through the phone often these days. One he had recently heard in person, too.

"Claire?" Cas asked, tensing up instinctively. He grew worried then, as the tone of her voice sounded urgent, insistent.

"Yeah, it's me. I need your help," she repeated.

"With what?" "I found a case," she elaborated, "and I got in way over my head."

That didn't sound right to Cas. Claire never "got in over her head", as she'd said, in a case. She was careful, stealthy in her hunting, and successful in it, too. Still, Castiel was already reaching for a piece of paper to scribble a note for Jack.

"Where are you?" He asked, turning his concentration back to his phone, and the desperate-sounding girl on the other end of the line.

She told him her location, a five-hour drive away from the bunker. It was surprisingly close, almost too close for comfort. If something had happened to bring Claire to the brink of death...

"I'll be right there."

The Impala sat in the garage, untouched since Dean had last driven it back to the bunker. Castiel knew that time was of the essence, as the keys to the car materialized in his hand. He opened the door, hurriedly fit himself inside, and sped down the road, on his way to Claire.

The Impala was the first car Cas had ever driven. He had been human at the time, needing to get used to relying on human methods of transportation. And of course Dean, being Dean, had taught him to drive, albeit grudgingly. The force of the memory almost made Cas drive off the road, but he cleared his head and focused on his destination.

The hunt turned out to be a treacherous one, a nest of vampires. Castiel hurried to the place Claire had told him she would be, and found her lying, bruised and bloodied, on the floor amid a pool of blood. Most of it, thankfully, wasn't hers, but the blood of the vampires she had killed. Their bodies lay scattered throughout the place, the threat they posed to this world eradicated.

"Claire!" Cas exclaimed as he approached her.

She looked to him in relief. "Castiel," she said. Then she paused, looking him over. "You look...different."

"Is that bad?" Cas asked accusingly.

"No, it's a good thing," Claire reassured him. "You look like a hunter."

Cas took that as a sign that Claire was recovering from whatever had happened to her on the hunt. "Thank goodness you're okay,"he said, though they both knew that what he really meant was, "Thank goodness you're alive." He couldn't endure another hunter's funeral so soon.

"Yeah," Claire said. "I killed a few of the vampires before I realized that there were way too many for me to handle alone." She tried to get up, but winced when she put weight on her legs.

"You're hurt," Cas observed. "I can see why you called."

There was no point in Claire denying what could obviously be seen. She treasured each bruise, each cut, each scar she got from hunting. They were tokens, proof that she battled her demons and won, whether they were actual or metaphorical ones.

"I think my ankle is sprained, and my arm is definitely broken," she admitted. Without being asked, Castiel bent down over her, and let his grace wash over her wounds, healing them instantly. It was the least he could do for her in this situation.

Using the scent of Claire's spilled blood as a lure, they located the rest of the vampires from the nest. Castiel took them by surprise, killing them all in a fit of unexpected rage. Beneath that rage, as he dealt blows to each monster, channeled the power of his grace, and lashed out with his angel blade, was the raw grief from the death of two of the closest friends he had ever had.

Standing there afterwards, covered in blood as Claire had been, Castiel felt validated. He had managed to channel his very human emotions into this hunt, and done well by saving Claire.

"Thanks for your help," she said as they walked away from the now-empty vampire nest.

"You just...get home safely," Castiel told her. "That's all I ask."

He found a protective talisman that had been left in a pocket of his new leather jacket, and left it beside Claire's duffel bag just before they parted ways. Though he knew that she would most likely not need it, it was a gift from him, a courtesy. A reminder to her to be more careful the next time she hunted on her own.

At first, hunting began as a way for Castiel to cope with his grief. But soon enough Claire called him again, having found another case. This time, she let him handle it all on his own. Then the rest of the Wayward Sisters followed suit, collaborating their efforts to find a case a week for him, all of them in which a hunter had been injured one way or another. Castiel did his job diligently and successfully, so that he became almost a legend in his own right. Wherever he went, he drove the Impala, to the point where he could sense the relief at the sound of its engine when he approached places where hunters lay on the brink of death. Each time he would leave them a gift, as he had for Claire; a memento of his presence. They eventually whispered stories among themselves, spreading the word about the angel posing as a hunter. Over time their gratitude and awe manifested into a special title for him; the Patron Saint of Hunters.

Each time Castiel arrived back at the bunker, Jack remained his usual cheerful self, steering their conversations towards mundane topics, sometimes asking Castiel to explain pop culture references he didn't understand. They didn't speak of this newfound way for Castiel to channel his grief and loss, the one unspoken rule between them. But eventually, Jack looked up from his bowl of cereal one morning and said the words that Castiel had been dreading to hear ever since he began his relentless hunting.


	3. Chapter 3

"I want to hunt with you." The words startled Castiel. He had done his best to discourage Jack from entering the life of a hunter, though it was inevitable.

A million arguments coursed through Castiel's mind then. It was too dangerous, but no; Jack was able to protect himself. He was too inexperienced to hunt, which was true to a point. He was too young, much younger than the appearance of his hastily aged body. Not that that seemed to matter, or stop Jack in any capacity anyway.

"What?" Castiel asked sternly, ever the father figure. It was a role he took on doubly so, now that Sam and Dean were gone.

"I want to hunt with you." Jack repeated himself, almost insistently.

"Jack..." Cas sighed heavily, and opted to keep his answer plain and simple. "No."

"Please? You know what I can do with my powers. I can fight, I can even kill. And I have it all under control now."

"I said no." Castiel was adamant about it.

"Why not?" It was almost, but not quite, a whine.

Castiel suddenly stood up and slammed his fist on the table. Luckily it held up under his angelic strength. "Do you _want _to end up dead, like Sam and Dean?" Castiel raged. "Even after everything I did to protect them, I lost them. I won't lose you, Jack. Not to some monster. The answer is no."

"But you let Claire hunt, and she's human," Jack protested. "That's different," Cas explained. "I don't _let_ her hunt. She is a free spirit; she does it on her own. I merely assist her on her hunts when she is in dire need. I suppose it's my way of atoning for the tragedy I caused her family."

Jack nodded. "She told me about that. About both of those things. I can learn to be as good a hunter as she is. Maybe someday I'll even be as good at hunting as Sam and Dean were."

The mention of Sam and Dean no longer felt like the stab of an angel blade piercing Castiel's heart; it had since faded down to a dull ache in his chest. They had been more than heroes; they had been Jack's dads. It stood to reason that Castiel bringing Jack along to a hunt would honor their memory.

"Fine," Castiel relented at last. "I'll let you come along with me when the time is right."

He'd been determined at first not to give in, to ensure Jack's complete safety. But who could resist those pleading puppy-dog eyes?

Time went by, and Castiel waited for a very special day before following through with his plan. And then the day came when he drove Jack to the destination he had planned, trying to be as discreet as possible. Luckily, this didn't take much effort at all. Along the way, Jack enthused about how excited he was to finally start hunting, and how grateful he was to Castiel for the opportunity.

Castiel stopped the Impala close by the most convenient entrance to Heaven he could think of at the moment. For once, no angel stood to guard it, meaning one of two things. Either the angels didn't bother to keep Heaven in order anymore, or there weren't enough angels left in Heaven to spare for the job to be done.

"You said you were going to bring me on a hunt," Jack huffed, looking around disappointedly. "Not to some playground."

"This is no ordinary playground," Cas explained. "It's an entrance into Heaven."

"Heaven?" Jack protested. "But why? Why are we here?"

"Don't worry," Cas said as he knelt down and began drawing Enochian symbols in the dirt, "I am taking you on your first hunt. This is just a stop along the way."

They entered one after the other through the gateway. Heaven had been slowly but steadily repopulated with angels over time after the disastrous state it had been left in. The process of rebuilding what had been lost had taken so much of a toll on the angels that Castiel doubted that the fallen angel and Nephilim who now walked among them would be noticed.

After much wandering, Cas and Jack approached the door that was their destination at last.

"This is Mom's part of Heaven," Jack said in wonder, seeing the name engraved on the door in bold block letters.

"Yes, it is," Castiel agreed as they stepped through the door. "I thought you'd like to see her again."

The expansive meadow of Kelly Kline's childhood was one that Castiel and Jack had visited before. This time, there was no desperate need to save Jack, no reason for anyone to make steep sacrifices out of love the way Castiel had done.

Just when it seemed that Kelly was missing from the landscape, she appeared before them, coming from around the corner.

"Hi, mom," said Jack.

Kelly let out a soft gasp. "Jack," she said in disbelief. "I'm so glad you're here."

She moved forward and hugged him, prolonging the contact slightly to make sure that he was real. Then she pulled back, tears starting to form in her eyes as she looked at him. "How are you here? You're not dead this time, are you?" She asked cautiously.

"No," Jack confirmed. "Castiel brought me here for a visit. We're gonna go on a hunt together after this."

She looked past him then, to the angel who stood silently beside him.

"Castiel," she said. "It's good to see you again."

"Hello, Kelly," he said, smiling slightly.

As she had with Jack, she enveloped Castiel in a hug that in no way satiated Castiel's newly developed hunger for physical contact.

"What happened to you?" Kelly asked, noticing the changes, both subtle and obvious, that had come over Castiel in such a short amount of time.

"I'm a hunter now," he declared proudly.

"You are? Good for you."

Rather than try to talk Jack out of hunting, as Castiel had been anticipating, Kelly smiled widely when she turned back to her son. "Oh baby, I'm so proud of you," she said. "You'll make a great hunter. You've got Castiel, and Sam and Dean to teach you everything they know."

Castiel cleared his throat. "Actually, Sam and Dean are, um..." He didn't think he could finish the sentence properly, still not ready to speak the fact that they were dead into reality. And yet he managed to say, "They're somewhere in Heaven, I hope."

Kelly looked to him in sympathy and understanding. She had seen a similar look on Castiel's face before, the last time he and Jack had visited her in Heaven. "I'm so sorry, Castiel," she said. "They lived good lives."

"They did," Jack chimed in. "We have them a hunter's funeral, and it was...awesome! I made a new friend there, too."

"That's so great," said Kelly enthusiastically. "Why don't you tell me all about it?"

They strolled off together through the luscious landscape as Castiel hung back, waiting patiently for them to return. Time was not of the essence, as far as he was concerned. In fact, he had brought Jack to Heaven in order to buy more time to come up with a plan. For once, there was no case as of yet, no hunter in desperate need of saving or too far gone to be saved. It was a small blessing, but, until disaster struck again, Heaven would provide a distraction for Jack while Castiel came up with a solution.

By the time Jack and Kelly came back to their starting point, Castiel still had not figured out what to do about the situation he had brought himself into. Luckily, he had a way to prolong his distraction.

Their small, happy reunion over, Kelly hugged them both, in turn, goodbye. She urged them to visit her again when they could, and then they left the little piece of Heaven that belonged to her.

"Where are we going now?"Jack asked as they walked through Heaven once more.

"We have one more stop to make," Cas announced, "provided that their souls are here, and are not lingering in Purgatory."


	4. Chapter 4

At last, Castiel and Jack reached their second heavenly destination.

"We're here," Cas announced.

The name on the door in front of them simply read Winchester, in the same style as every other door in Heaven.

"Are Sam and Dean really behind that door?" Jack asked. "You said their souls might not be here yet."

"Yes," said Castiel. "This is their Heaven. I'm sure of it."

Cas and Jack walked through the door and found themselves back in the bunker again, proving Castiel right. On the surface it appeared to be the bunker, though in reality it wasn't.

"This is not what their Heaven looked like the last time they died," Castiel observed as they walked down the familiar metal stairs.

"It must have changed because their priorities in life changed," Jack suggested.

Cas nodded, deciding that Jack's rather wise explanation was as good as any.

As if speaking their names earlier had conjured them up, Sam and Dean stood there in the war room, where Cas and Jack had stood not long ago. They were speaking in hushed tones about something that was clearly important to them.

Sam and Dean looked much the same as they had in life, of course, dressed in the hunter's clothes they had died in, but there was something different about them. Death had given them a peaceful appearance; they had lost the ragged edge to their looks that was common among hunters in life. It was a contrast to Castiel, who had in fact gained the rugged hunter looks.

"Cas," Sam said in disbelief when he saw them. "And Jack. How did you get here? What are you doing here?"

"We came through the playground," Jack explained.

"We're here to be a family again," said Cas. "For one last time. If that's alright with you." "Of course it is," said Sam, before enveloping Cas and Jack in hugs.

"It's good to see you, man," Dean said, giving Cas a hug that may or may not have lasted a little too long. "Nice outfit," he added, pulling back and taking a closer look at his friend.

"Thank you, Dean," Cas said proudly, and reached down to brush some dirt off his jeans.

Then Dean turned to Jack and said, "Hey, kid," before hugging the Nephilim in turn.

"Wait a minute," Sam said, following Castiel's actions closely. "Are those my jeans?"

Cas nodded unashamedly. "I hope you don't mind," he said. "I wanted to have something to remember the two of you by after you died, so I started wearing this outfit, and hunting."

"I'm learning to hunt, too," Jack chimed in eagerly.

They then proceeded to fill Sam and Dean in on everything that had happened within the hunter community since their deaths.

"So, how long has it been, exactly, since we died?" asked Sam. Of course, being in Heaven, Sam and Dean were no longer aware of the passage of time as they'd known it on Earth.

"You've been dead for almost a year now; in fact, today is May 18th," Castiel said, giving the brothers an expectant, knowing look.

"May 18th?" Dean repeated, a solemn look on his face.

"That is what I said," Castiel reiterated, sass creeping into his voice. "Need I remind you what this day means?"

"No, no," Sam reassured him. "We know what it means."

"We do?" Dean asked, an attempt at a joke. This was followed shortly by an exclamation of, "Ow!" And a glare at his younger brother.

Sam, Dean, and Cas were all well aware of the significance of this day. Not only was it the anniversary of the day that Castiel had once died at the hands of Lucifer, but it marked the passing of another major event in Castiel's life. And the reason stood beside him at that very moment.

"What does it mean?" Jack, ever curious, asked, wanting to be in the loop.

"I brought you here today because today is a special day for you," Cas said.

"It is?" Jack asked, still clueless. "How is it a special day?"

As if right on cue, Castiel snapped his fingers, adorning the room with decorations. Balloons drifted up to the ceiling, as party hats, plates, utensils, napkins, and a birthday cake appeared on the table.

"Happy birthday, Jack," his three dads said in answer, almost at the same time.

He looked stunned. "This is all for me?"

"Yeah," Castiel confirmed. "It is."

"Aw, come on," Dean said, gazing disappointedly at the table. "Where's the pie?"

Cas rolled his eyes dramatically, and a pecan pie appeared next to the cake. Dean stared at it and rubbed his hands together, delighted.

"That's what I'm talking about," he said, and pulled it towards him, ready to cut a generous slice of it for himself.

As the newly reunited members of Team Free Will 2.0 celebrated Jack's existence, it was easy to forget that half of their company was dead. Sam and Dean were still vibrant and full of life, leading Castiel to wonder if they would have turned out this way if they had never become hunters.

Just before they left, Sam and Dean enveloped them simultaneously in a hug. Cas savored every last moment he had with his old friends, knowing that even though he had gotten the closure he needed, the world was still a little less brighter without them in it.

On the way back to the Impala, Jack beamed happily.

"You knew," he said. "You knew I wanted to see Sam and Dean again. Thank you, Castiel. That was the best birthday present ever!" He enveloped Castiel in a sudden hug, which was returned enthusiastically.

"I'm very glad you liked your present," said Cas. He was also glad that his distraction had worked. But he couldn't put it off any longer.

"Jack," he continued, "there's something I-"

The moment was interrupted by the sudden smell of sulfur.

Jack wrinkled his nose. "Demons are here," he said worriedly. "What are they doing here?"

"I don't know," admitted Cas. "But now you get your wish, Jack. Welcome to your first hunt."

"What do I do?" Jack asked, suddenly nervous.

"Stay close to me. If you find your grace depleted, use the angel blade I gave you. And, most importantly, be careful."

The events of the next few minutes happened more quickly than Castiel would remember later, when he kept thinking over and over again of the ways he could have prevented things. Demons appeared from several corners at once, surprising Cas and Jack

Cas held his angel blade defensibly in his hand, ready to put up a fight. "What do you want?" He asked.

"It's simple. We want him," the lead demon said, indicating Jack.

"Me?" Jack asked. "Why?"

The demon scoffed. "Why? You're the son of Lucifer, kid. All of of heaven and hell wants you, for our own reasons."

Castiel surged forward and fought for all he was worth, but for every demon he killed, another seemed to take its place. He could not let them take Jack, one of the few good things left in his life, away from him.

In spite of his efforts, demons eventually circled behind and in front of him, blocking his path to Jack. There were too many of them for Cas to take on at once, on his own. In that moment he understood how Claire had felt on the hunt that had started him down this path.

Taking advantage of Castiel's hesitation, the lead demon grabbed Jack's arm, holding him in such a way that there was little possibility for Jack to break free.

"You're not so great of a hunter after all, are you?" The demon taunted. "I expected so much more from the legendary Patron Saint of Hunters."

Cas managed to take a few steps forward, though any other move he made would be futile. "Will you shut the fuck up?" He growled, already grown weary of the demon's nonsensical and ineffective taunting.

Before Cas could make another move, the demon laughed. "Sorry, no can do. But thanks for letting us take what we came for, angel."

Cas stared hopelessly at Jack, while reaching for his angel blade, which had fallen to the ground in the midst of the fight. Before he could make another move, the demons that had surrounded him gravitated back toward their leader.

And then they dragged Jack away, and disappeared.

"Jack!" Castiel exclaimed, though his efforts yielded no results. It was too late. Jack was gone.

In that moment, Castiel felt a connection opening between their minds through angel radio. It was a small comfort to him, a remnant of the bond they had shared before Jack had even been born.

At a loss as to what to do next, Cas sent Claire a hasty, desperate text explaining the situation. Her reply was prompt; she would be there soon, and they would find Jack and bring him home safely, together.

"Don't worry, Jack," Castiel said, attempting to reach him through their newly established angel radio connection. "We're coming to save you."


	5. Chapter 5

Hours later, Castiel drove the Impala down the wide-open road. Claire, riding shotgun, glanced over at him. "Hey, thanks for the ride," she said.

"It's not a problem," said Cas. "I could use the help finding Jack."

"So this is what you do?" Claire asked. "You drive around aimlessly until you find a hunt?"

"That's right," Castiel explained. "I like driving. It helps me to think."

"How do you find all these hunts, anyway?" Claire wondered.

"I hear the prayers of hunters like you in their hour of need," Cas answered, making sure to keep his eyes on the road. "They call me the Patron Saint of Hunters."

"Catchy," Claire offered. She paused, then said, "I can drive too, you know."

"I know," said Cas, deadpan. Then, after a moment of consideration, he added, "Would you like to?"

"Really?" Claire asked, her eyes full of excitement.

"Dean rarely let anyone drive this car," Cas explained, "but I, on the other hand, wouldn't mind sharing the honor."

Cas pulled over, after carefully making sure that it was safe. He switched places with Claire, finding it strange to be in shotgun for once.

"Remember," he said to Claire as she pulled back out onto the highway, "be careful. Always watch where you're going."

"I know, _dad_," she said, expertly increasing the Impala's speed.

She proved to be a safe, competent driver, much to Castiel's relief.

Two hours later, Claire looked out of the driver's side window as they neared a rest stop. "I'm gonna pull over here," she announced. "I'm getting hungry."

"Of course," said Cas. "I understand."

Claire pulled into the parking lot, looking extremely proud of herself when she parallel parked successfully.

As Claire wandered off to take care of her very human needs, Castiel refueled the Impala. That task done, he passed the rest of the time listening to angel radio. An event such as the disappearance of a Nephilim should have been big news in Heaven, but the angels were still too busy rebuilding what had been lost to prioritize anything else.

And then Cas felt a faint, familiar signal. It took some time for him to recognize it as Jack.

"Claire, we have to go," Cas announced when she came back. "I know where Jack is now."

"Let's go find him, then," said Claire, carefully shutting the door of the Impala.

They were soon on their way to Jack, Cas in the driver's seat once again, getting closer with every mile.

When they arrived at their destination, Cas parked the Impala in the empty parking lot, listening for the desperate thoughts and prayers that he had become attuned to from hunters. This time there were none, only the telltale presence of Jack.

"This is it?" Claire asked, her voice a whisper just in case.

"It is," Cas confirmed. "I can feel it."

They approached the abandoned building stealthily. Cas motioned to Claire, indicating for her to scout the area on the opposite side.

They found Jack standing relatively unharmed in the middle of the room. All around him were the former vessels of the demons, all of them lying on the ground sprawled in odd positions, dead. All traces of the demons themselves had vanished.

"Jack!" Cas called out. Jack turned his head and broke out into a grin when he saw Cas and Claire. Cas rushed forward and gave Jack a tight hug, a reassurance that they were all safe, and together again.

"You didn't leave any for us?" Claire asked disappointedly.

"Sorry," Jack said, an innocent expression on his face.

"Well, thank God you're okay," Claire observed, in dismissal. "God had nothing to do with it," a new voice interjected.

They all turned to see Anael walk out of the shadows, a smug look on her face.

"What are you doing here, Anael?" Cas asked.

"I wanted to help," she said. "I was looking for Jack, to make sure he was okay. I couldn't just sit around and do nothing when I heard that he might be in danger"

"That's very thoughtful of you," said Cas.

As Cas and Anael had begun talking, Jack and Claire walked off together, to clean up the abandoned building.

Anael gave Cas a second, more thoughtful glance.

"So," she said. "You're the one who's been impersonating a hunter."

"Not impersonating, no. I _am _a hunter," Cas declared. It had been over a year since he had begun hunting, so he felt he had the right to consider himself a hunter.

"Let me ask you something, then, Castiel," said Anael. "If you had to choose between Heaven and Earth, which would you pick?"

The question was one Castiel had spent more than ten years figuring out for himself. He pondered a bit before giving his answer. "I would choose to create a balance of both for myself," he said. "Sam and Dean were my family, and now Jack and Claire are too. But in spite of everything I still feel a loyalty to Heaven."

Anael laughed. "That's cute," she said, "and noble of you, Castiel."

"Thank you," said Cas.

Just then, Jack and Claire walked back in, having finished clearing the place. Now, it was as if

"What do you know? They actually did it," Anael said quietly to Cas.

"They did," Cas said, smiling proudly. "Then it's time to go home," he announced.

Jack and Claire agreed easily, and they walked back to the Impala, leaving the abandoned building behind, and leaving Anael to come and go as she pleased once again.

Claire decided to stay the night at the bunker, at the insistence of both Cas and Jack. She sent a quick text to the other Wayward Sisters, letting them know that she was safe, and still alive.

When they got back to the bunker, they settled down in front of the TV, taking turns leafing through Sam and Dean's old collection of movies.

"What movie should we watch tonight?" Claire asked.

"I pick Star Wars," Jack declared excitedly.

"You've seen all the Star Wars movies at least five times," said Cas. "Let's watch something else."

When they were finally able to decide on a movie, both Jack and Claire fell asleep by the time it was halfway over. And so, as he had done for the Winchesters time and time again, the fallen angel watched over the hunter and Nephilim he had taken in as his chosen family.


End file.
